What’s the old saying about the backup quarterback being the most popular guy in town?

That was certainly the case in Clemson, South Bend and Miami through the spring, summer, fall camp and certainly the first couple weeks of this season. If Trevor Lawrence, Ian Book and N’Kosi Perry were old enough to drink they would never have to buy one.

Instead, they settled for the keys to their team’s offense. That’s not such a bad deal given national championship talk is the norm in Death Valley these days, the Fighting Irish are seeking to be a part of the College Football Playoff and the Hurricanes own South Beach when the going is good.

Let’s take a look at how Lawrence, Book and Perry have fared since taking over the top job.

Trevor Lawrence, Clemson

The nation’s top recruit for 2018 arrived on campus during the winter and wasted little time in impressing by putting on an outstanding performance in the spring game. With the writing on the wall backups Hunter Johnson (Northwestern) and Zerrick Cooper (Jacksonville State) transferred and any gap between Lawrence and incumbent Kelly Bryant, who totaled 3,467 yards and 24 touchdowns in helping lead the Tigers to the 2017 CFP semifinal, appeared to come down to experience.

Coming off the bench in the Tigers’ first four games, Lawrence was extremely productive prompting coach Dabo Swinney to make the change. Bryant then became the third Clemson QB to announce his transfer in calendar 2018.

In announcing the switch, Swinney had no lack of praise for Lawrence’s four-touchdown outing against Georgia Tech.

Of course, when he could least afford to get hurt, Lawrence went down during his first-career start against visiting Syracuse. He was 10-of-15 for 93 yards before being injured, an injury that led to redshirt freshman Chase Brice leading a comeback win over the Orange. Healthy enough to start in what would be a rout of Wake Forest, Lawrence completed 20-of-25 for 175 yards and a pair of TDs.

The 6-foot-5 Georgia native has thrown 11 touchdowns and two picks in his first 100 collegiate attempts. His rating of 174.2 leads the ACC and is tied with Colorado’s Steve Montez for tenth nationally.

Ian Book, Notre Dame

It was this time last year, the Irish’s sixth game, that Book made his first career start in place of the injured Brandon Wimbush. He had all of eight career attempts before throwing for 146 yards and a TD and rushing for 45 yards in a 33-10 win at North Carolina.

Book attempted only 17 more passes before replacing an ineffective Wimbush and leading a come-from-behind win against LSU in the Citrus Bowl. In so doing, he threw for 164 yards and two TDs and added 36yards rushing.

Naturally, the question became who will be the starter heading into 2018, a question coach Brian Kelly answered prior to fall camp, but with the door left open.

Wimbush totaled 30 touchdowns last season, with 14 coming on the ground. He completed only 49.5 percent of his passes with an efficiency rating that placed him 86th nationally. After throwing one touchdown pass and four interceptions through the first three games, with three picks coming in a 24-16 win over Ball State, Kelly went with Book in Week 4 at Wake Forest.

Through three starts the junior from California has been no less than impressive in totaling 11 touchdowns (eight passing) and being picked only once in decisive victories over the Demon Deacons, Stanford and Virginia Tech, the latter being a considerable road challenge Book passed with flying colors.

N’Kosi Perry, Miami

It was a different Miami team that played against North Carolina on Thursday night two weeks ago. Perry made his first-career start, the defense scored twice and, well, the swagger that was on display during much of last season’s 11-0 start was back big time. It all came together nicely.

Falling behind state rival and fellow ACC foe Florida State by 20 points? It wasn’t a script coach Mark Richt cared to follow, but a a great comeback is a great comeback and Perry delivered with the decisive touchdown pass, his fourth of the evening, in a one-point win.

True, the numbers were not pretty. Perry, a 6-foot-4 redshirt freshman, completed only 13-of-32 and lost a fumble against the Seminoles. Yet, there is a lot to be said for a young quarterback who has little go right, but hangs tough in helping deliver a comeback victory in a rivalry game. While the defense created a short field on multiple occasions, somebody still had to lead the ‘Canes into the end zone.

Though Malik Rosier (3,120 passing yards, 31 total TDs in ’17) led the ‘Canes to victory in the first 11 games of 2017, had system knowledge and game experience that allowed him to maintain his hold on No. 1 coming in to 2018, oil leaked heavily at the end of last season and continued to do so early this year. Hence, many of the faithful clamored for change with Perry, his cannon arm and overall skill set being the object of desire.

Heading into Saturday evening’s game at Virginia, Perry has a Tua-like touchdown/pass attempt ratio of 11/83. While he can’t be expected to sustain that pace, keeping the swagger alive and well leading up to a potential de facto ACC Coastal title game clash with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on November 17 (two weeks before a potential ACC championship meeting with Lawrence) is something he is tasked with.

I have been a sports writer and editor since 1990. In addition to being a contributing writer for forbes.com, I am a writer for globalsportmatters.com and sportstalkflorida.com. I am a member of the Football Writers Association of America and the National Football Foundatio...